Who Are You Gonna Be for Halloween?

One of the great things about writing is that we writers get to assume someone else's identity for awhile. If we are shy, we can be the boisterous politician in our story. If we are female, we can become a male character in a chapter of a novel.

I'd like to believe that writing about people allows us to become more knowledgeable and appreciative of the world's characters around us. Why are certain people behaving in the odd ways that they do? Will they change? Writing about people allows us to also understand ourselves better. I now pay attention to why I do things that I shouldn't (like eating that extra cookie when I'm full).

So, writers, when you are sitting in front of your computers, who are you gonna be for Halloween today?

About GOTHIC DOO-WOP: Rise or Fall

In my work I will always favor solid characters over a plot. Events happen to people; their responses make for the individuality of the predicaments they face. How will they rise or fall to their challenges?

That's storytelling, folks.

My first novel, GOTHIC DOO-WOP, chronicles a divorced probate attorney and her two teenaged daughters. One of them is a promising cellist who meets her challenge when she starts sleeping with her music professor. The other is a bad guitarist in a bad gothic rock band--her attitude is equally as bad as her playing. These characters must grow and change as their conflicts become more urgent. Will they rise or fall?

Write Stuff

This blog will be a multi-day discussion of my writing. I write because fiction flows through my veins. I can't imagine not having stories, both real life and fictional, to tell people. Coupled with my love of book-length works and words, and presto...a writer was born.

I prefer writing fiction because I must give a voice and life to the characters roaming through my mind. They talk to me, and if I don't get their words down on paper, they will haunt me. (No, I'm really not crazy!)

What's in a Weekend?

Does the week ever end?

iPod Essential #1: "Getting Away With It"--Electronic

In high school, I earned Quill and Scroll honors for writing record reviews and features for the newspaper. Since everyone's a critic, here comes my two cents on the tunes stored in my iPod (Why didn't I invent one?).

Electronic's "Getting Away With It" is superb, lush, melodic, danceable techno pop. Electronic was a studio band in the mid to late 80's, featuring some members of New Order and the Pet Shop Boys; their respective bands' sounds influence the melody and the teasing but honest lyrics: "I love you more than you love me."

On my Pod, I have downloaded the seven-minute version; it seems to make my time on the elliptical trainer pass by in strokes of strings. It's a song I never get tired of listening to--it, oddly enough, helps to heal a broken heart.

Teaching: An Undervalued Profession (Part 2)

I teach because I love talking about words, language, and sentences. In all classes, I try to impart my knowledge to students. I hope to show them why they need to improve their writing, reading, and thinking skills. Sometimes I succeed; sometimes I fail.

A part of my paycheck is watching students' work improve throughout the semester. Occasionally I am amazed how their work has matured from draft to draft. It always excites me when students, after days or weeks of struggling, finally understand an important but abstract concept about writing.

My job is to educate students about words and ideas and how to present them on paper. Other educators have different goals for their students. Nevertheless, we often move through our schools as unsung heroes.

Teaching: An Undervalued Profession (Part 1)

If it's Tuesday, then I must be teaching. Today I will be working with two sets of introductory literature students along with one class of developmental writers. Fortunately, this semester my students are serious about their educations and are dedicated, hard workers who want to learn about writing and reading.

It pains me greatly when students come to my class, expecting me to pass them just because they show up. (If they come, why do they have to do the work?) It also upsets me when weaker students, who need extra course support by way of office visits with me or tutorials at the Learning Center, do nothing to help themselves.

We, as educators, need to help students discover their minds. What will happen to our city, state, and world, if we don't?

The Importance of Good Zzzzs

It's Monday, my regular day off from teaching classes (that is, if teachers ever have a day off from prepping or reading assignments during a regular semester). I like to sleep in on my Select Comfort 5000 bed as the heater warms the house and as NPR recaps the day's events.

The Select Comfort allows me a comfortable night's rest. On a typical spring mattress, my body never relaxes, and I wake up stiff and sore, more tired than I was before I fell asleep. I used to spend sleepless nights on a cheap spring mattress until one morning I said, "Enough." I went to the local mall and bought my bed.

As long as you properly care for your Select Comfort matress, it will last you twenty years. It's well worth the money.

What's your sleep number?

Blogged Day Afternoon (10/22/06)

Good afternoon, folks. I am Lori Wolf, and I howl frequently. I am the author of two books, GOTHIC DOO-WOP and PARROT ON A LIMB. GOTHIC is the tale of a dysfunctional family of musicians coming to terms with their secrets, while PARROT is a mystery. I consider PARROT to be New Age pastoral noir. You should check out my website at www.loriwolf.com for more on my books and me.

I never thought I'd be creating a blog, but it's for the sake of my art. A friend of mine, Julie Anne Swayze (PasadenaJulie.blogspot.com), advised me to get one, so here I am. Alive and blogging as we speak.

Howlin' off,
Lori